Just for Fun... #44: The Experiment Works!!

This experimental box that I’ve been trying out sat idle all weekend, what with work and all…This morning, I put on the top course and then fashioned the lid…This box is a little different, at least to me… Usually, I spend a lot of time making the sides of a box fit right together… and then there’s a separate “assembly phase”...Here, it was all assembly and when the walls were up, it’s DONE… almost…The walls were built, but not actually connected… one to another…So I took a few minutes to pin the corners with pegs…This all went so smoothly, that I had a chance to slap together some quick hinges out of some scrap White Oak…And to slap them on…Ordinarily, I would have glued them on first, and then pinned them… But because of the “ribbed” surface on the box, I didn’t think the glue would hold very well…So I went straight to pinning them on… and after a little sanding, this went straight to the finishing department…And what were the results of the experiment?
#1) If I give it another go, I’d make the walls a little thicker… so as to make it easier to “Staple” the pieces together. I popped through in a couple places… or alternatively,
#2) This would work excellent, if the pieces of the sides were simply glued together!!
#3) This would also look very cool using alternating species of wood (light and dark) as suggested here…
All in all, this theory worked very well!! I was reluctant, but I tried the old “Stand On It” test, and it passed with flying colors!!There surely are a lot of ways to skin a cat… or to make a box… :)

This is a most interesting box for you Mike!You are thinking “out of your usual box” and you have proven once again that boxes are addictive.I really like the unusual nature of this box and, of course, the classic “Mike” hinges.Well done.

Thanks my Friends!!Hinges just aren’t that hard!! I have no doubt that anybody could make them, if they sit down and think about them…The simplest ones are nothing more than loose box joints, with a pin through them… though they can be made as elaborately as you wish. They are a little time consuming, but this is not a race!!If anyone is interested, I did a two-part blog on making a pair a while ago starting hereThere was one other thing I thought of during this build… This would be a great way to tackle a six or eight or any sided box!! If it were practical, it could even be made star-shaped or almost any shape desired!!Moment: I can imagine what that weighed!! Kinda like picking up a whole stack of lumber at the lumberyard!!Have Fun Everybody!!

Mike you are so creative with the way you can make a beautiful and sturdy (stand-on test?!) box out of a clothes dryer rack and scrap oak! And I’m still amazed at the way you make those wooden hinges too. Nice work!